MHA silent on Home Minister’s claim of ‘bomb manufacturing’ factories in ‘every Bengal district’

Mumbai-based activist Saket Gokhale tweeted this week:

"In October Home Minister Amit Shah gave an interview to CNN News18 where he claimed “there are bomb-making factories in every district of West Bengal”.So, I filed a 4-point RTI. (1) a list of the bomb making factories in Bengal referred to by Amit Shah

(2) Whether MHA had briefed Shah about this

(3) Whether Shah’s remarks were based on official records

The Home Ministry’s answer is NO. They claim they don’t have any such info.Further, the Home Ministry claims law & order is a state subject. Ergo, that answers the 4th question I’d asked which was “has information about these alleged bomb factories been shared with West Bengal Police. “They haven’t done that. Why? Because no such factories exist. It is shocking that the Union Home Minister of India would openly perpetrate fake news about internal security matters just to malign and insult the state of West Bengal for electoral gains. How can the Home Minister be trusted when he lies openly on record about things? Getting this info wasn’t easy. MHA stalled giving a response since October. Even the 1st appeal wasn’t responded to. An MHA official called me and said “we’ve been told not to reply on this”.

Finally got the response after issuing a legal notice last week."

After the Tweet caused a mild sensation on the site, MHA accused him of distorting its replies. The response, it said, related to a later RTI application filed by Gokhale. The ministry, by its own admission, is unable or unwilling to answer the questions raised. The irony is that the same ministry wants to control digital content.

Freebies for TN voters?

Political parties in Tamil Nadu have been known to announce freebies if they win. The DMK in 2006 promised television for everyone. In the next election the AIADMK promised mixergrinders to all women. M. Karunanidhi had also implemented rice at rupees two a kilogram and delivered gas stoves and gas cylinders to women. But in 2021 can political parties afford to keep up the trend with the state government’s fiscal deficit rising to a whopping Rs 93 thousand crore and its revenue deficit ballooning? Barely eight years ago in 2011-12, Tamil Nadu was a revenue surplus state. But profligacy, poor fiscal management, central government’s policies on taxes, cess and surcharge, a slowing economy and the pandemicinduced lockdown have created uncertainties. Opinion is sharply divided on ‘freebies’ with one section holding that it is a bad policy to make people depend on the state for everything. Others believe they help the economy by generating demand for goods and also the help the people. TV is said to have even helped reduce crime and provided the poor not just with entertainment but also with information. Gas stoves, cylinders and mixer-grinders similarly eased the pressure on women, improved their health and also helped some to augment their income. The jury is out.

BJP’s helicopter blitz

For BJP’s star campaigner in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari, a minister and close confidante of Mamata Banerjee who defected to the BJP, a helipad is being built at Nandigram at a cost of Rs 40-50 lakhs on a four acre land. While BJP leaders claim that the land was given free by the farmers on the condition that they get it back after the election, they are hard put to explain why Adhikari needs a separate helipad. Mamata Banerjee, who is contesting against Adhikari, will also be using a helicopter which will land at a local college ground. But the temporary helipad with a 100 feet radius, concrete mix and bricks, indicate preparations for a stream of helicopters of BJP leaders including the PM. Nandigram, which was at the epicentre of a peasants’ protest against the Left Front, goes to the poll in the very first phase on April 1.

Contraband: Assam breaks all records

With the first of the three-phase polling in Assam slated for March 27, the state has already broken all previous record in seizure of cash, drugs, liquor and other contraband after the poll was notified on February 26. In the next eleven days, agencies had confiscated Rs 4.27 crore in cash, 3.58 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 5.52 crore, drugs and narcotics worth Rs 4 crore, gold and silver worth rupees one crore and other freebies for voters worth Rs 3.52 crore.

Criminal cases: BJP ahead in Bengal

A study by the Bengal chapter of Election Watch revealed that BJP had the highest percentage of MPs and MLAs from the state with criminal cases between 2004 and 2019. According to the study published on Tuesday, 59 per cent or 17 of the 29 BJP MPs and MLAs elected since 2004, have declared criminal cases against them. 14 of these lawmakers disclosed serious criminal charges.In comparison, 171 of the 520 MPs and MLAs of Trinamool Congress comprising 32%, elected since 2004, have criminal cases. The report also shows that in the poor and backward state, BJP lawmakers are the wealthiest with average assets of the 29 BJP MPs and MLAs who have won since 2009 valued at Rs 2.27 crore, followed by 530 Trinamool lawmakers whose average assets are worth Rs 1.55 crore. Not surprisingly, the percentage of tainted lawmakers and average assetsof the CPM MPs and MLAs were on the lower side. While 41 or 15 per cent of the 274 CPM lawmakers have criminal cases against them, their average asset is just Rs 22.37 lakh.

Farmer leaders in Nandigram

Leaders of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the farmers’ body spearheading the protests against the Centre’s three agriculture laws, plan to address rallies in several places in poll-bound West Bengal, including Nandigram where Mamata Banerjee is taking on Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP. Farm leaders are expected to speak on the farmers’ issues and also ask people not to vote for the BJP.

Poll Bytes

• The Borrowed Janata Party deserves our congratulations for living off the rejects of other parties. ....Yashwant Sinha

• Which political party has 41% women MPs in Lok Sabha and 33% in Rajya Sabha, nearly three times the percentage the BJP has in Parliament? ....Derek O’Brien

• AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal’s viral video with blatant “communal remarks” is doctored. Several Assam TV channels telecast it. DY365 now shows both the doctored and the original, the meaning of what Ajmal said in the original is exactly the opposite. ....Shantanu Nandan Sharma

( Compiled by Shalini Sahay)